Clone
by Aggressively Hospitable
Summary: After the Fischer job, the team is asked to do another Inception. But has the team bitten off more then they can chew? Can the impossible happen twice? Eams/OC A/A Rated M for Language, Violence and Sexual Situations in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

"Zara!" Nick screamed as he watched her take a bullet in the chest. She collapsed onto the ground and didn't move. His worst fears suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks. He couldn't move as time seemed to stop, he watched as her assailant walked up to her and raise his gun to shoot her in the head.

Nick was running as if he was on fire before he knew he was moving. He knew Zara was probably already dead if not dying, but heaven help him if he just stands by and watches it happen.

Mr. Nickolas Eams always prided himself on being many things in his lifetime. In the Dream Share Industry, he was considered an amazing Forger and Thief. Granted in 'real life' he was those things as well, but still, he was a bloody professional. He was usually calm under pressure and never got too attached to anyone or anything. But right now, none if mattered, because of this woman.

In record time he had crossed the distance and sent a flying kick into the guy's head. The assailant crashed into the wall and his skull split open. Not that Nick cared to look, he was currently trying to pick Zara up and carry her to safety. She was breathing haphazardly and trying to open her eyes to see what was happening. But as long as she stayed breathing, a small flame of hope burned within him. He had let her go once before, it was the stupidest thing he had ever done and he cursed himself for thinking he could live without her.

Arthur seemed to pull up in a car out of nowhere and Nick placed Zara in the backseat with himself as Arthur sped to the closest hospital. Nick stripped off his jacket and applied it to the gun shot wound.

"I hate the taste of blood..." Zara croaked as she tried to shift to in his grasp.

"What were you thinking you bloody crazy woman?" Nick asked as he tried to stop the bleeding. Despite the circumstances Zara laughed.

"I was thinking I would go for a cup of coffee then tell COBAL to fuck themselves." Zara answered.

"You're bloody wounded and you choose to tell jokes?" Nick replied, although he was relieved that at least she would keep her sense of humor despite the worst things in the world happening to her. He took it as a good sign.

"Would you rather I cry and go into hysterics? Tell you that you're the only man I will ever love for as long as I live which will be for the next 10 minutes or less?" Zara questioned. Despite her sarcastic tone there was an air of truth in her words.

"You are NOT going to die anytime soon love." Nick sternly replied as he put more pressure on the wound despite Zara's grimace.

"Since when have I ever done anything you tell me to do?" She teased as her eyelids got heavier and heavier as it got harder and harder to breathe. She could see Nick smile briefly before he looked worried as he tried to shake her awake, he was yelling something but the noise was deafening as she couldn't make out what he was saying. He was holding her face now, staring desperately into her eyes but her vision seemed to swirl and contort, the edges growing black before she gave up fighting. The last thing she feels is Nick's lips crash onto hers.

Three months prior-

The team was going to be doing another Inception. But if they thought Robert Fischer was a tough mark, they had another thing coming. They had set up shop in New York this time, in a large loft space that hid in plain sight. The team was meeting, discussing the Mark and how on earth they thought they could pull this off. Eams was at his wits end and decided they needed help on this.

"Where are you going?" Arthur asked as he got up and pulled out his phone.

"Calling in a favor." He replied with a smile. Like Dom had contacted Miles for an Architect, Eams was going to call the one person he knew could help him when he got seriously stuck.

Several minutes passed and he came back with a satisfied grin.

"I talked to Christine..." He began and watched Dom and Arthur raise their eyebrows.

"She will be sending us her best, an Ace Alpha Wild or so she says..." He went on to say, Ariadne watched as Dom and Arthur went from surprised to disbelieving.

"She will be at the airport at 8am tomorrow, I will be troubling myself with picking her up." Eams finished.

"How do you know Christine? And SHE?" Arthur asked.

"We all have to have our secrets mate." Eams replied with a wink.

"What's an Ace Alpha whatever?" Ariadne asked.

"Someone who is an extreme specialist with obscene skills, technically speaking, they don't exist." Arthur explained as he kept his narrowing gaze on Eams.

The next morning Eams waits patiently at the airport and is completely shocked to see a woman who looks like Christine, his own old mentor, but 30 years younger walking toward him. Same russet hair with blonde highlights, same porcelain skin, but with the most intense deep turquoise eyes he has ever seen and with an hour-glass figure that is accentuated by the way her pea-coat is tied around her waist.

"Mr. Eams?" She says as she gets closer.

"Yes?" He replies, shaking his head out of his stupor.

"Hi, I'm Zara, seems you are finding yourself in a pickle?" She asks with a innocent smile.

"It appears so, do you have any luggage love?" He asks, taking on his charming facade. She quirks an eyebrow and gives him a wry smile.

"Yes, do you always use pet names with team members?" She asks as her smile grows.

"Only the lovely ones darling." He replies with a handsome grin and a wink. She blushes despite herself and shakes her head.

"My mother warned me about you..." She says as they begin to walk to the baggage claim.

"Your mother?" Eams asks.

"Yes, Christine, Christine is my mother, she's the one who enlisted me to help out 'an old friend'. But I have to say I expected you to look older the way she carried on about you." She replied thoughtfully as she looked him over.

"Well fancy that. I never knew she had a daughter." He replied as he watched her take him in.

"In this business, one can not be too careful." She cautioned meeting his gaze before putting on an air of formality.

"Absolutely." He agreed as they came to the baggage claim and waited.

"Here's my bag." She said as she nodded to a large, heavy cased bag that looked like it belonged to some secret government agency.

"Allow me." Eams said as he got it for her. But he didn't realize it probably weighed as much as her.

"Are you sure? It's awfully heavy, I wouldn't want you to stroke out." She said as she watched him wrestle the thing.

"Here." She said as she reached out and pressed a code on an exterior keypad and out of nowhere a handle and wheels appeared allowing him to pull the thing almost effortlessly.

"I have got to get me one of these..." He muttered in amazement.

"I don't know if you could afford one. The blasted thing has cost me a fortune and a half." She replied honestly but with good humor. Once they got to the car he began to tell her the specifics.

"You're kidding me." Zara said with a groan.

"Is there a problem love?"

"Yes." She replied, pinching the bridge of her nose to stave off a headache.

"I would rather only say it once. Let's just get to the workshop." Zara said with finality as she pulls out a tablet from her bag and begins to tap furiously on it. Eams eyes her warily but they say nothing before they come to the workshop.

"Would you be a dear and get my bag?" Zara asked as she puts her tablet away.

"As my lady requires." Eams says smoothly. Zara smirks and follows him inside. The group is gathered and talking quietly. Zara feels nervous, like the first day of school all over again. She smiles shyly at the group before she recognizes a face.

"Yusuf?" Zara asks, suddenly stepping forward toward her old friend.

"Zara? When did you get to be an Alpha?" Yusuf asks, pleasantly surprised to see her. Zara giggles and hugs him, much to the surprise of the rest of the group. Zara switches to speaking Punjabi so the rest of the group can't listen in to the conversation. But it is clear by her tone and hand gestures that something serious is going on. Yusuf hugs her again and it appears to apologize for something. Zara's eyes water slightly before she slips back into her professional facade. Zara says something with a dismissive gesture then chuckles mirthlessly. She takes a deep breath and turns to the rest of the group.

"Hi, my name is Zara Hunters. I only recently became an Ace Alpha Wild so I promise I won't act half as haughty as I'm sure you are expecting me to. Although with the size of this group I'm rather surprised you would call me in. But considering your target, I think you just might need me after all. So, bring me up to speed and tell me what you have." Zara says as she takes a seat and brings out her tablet for taking notes. After everyone has said their peace- she nods and frowns.

"Mr. Eams, will you help me with something?" Zara asks as she brings her bag over to a desk near her and opens it. She motions for Eams to help her lift what looked like a framed and wired glass pane onto the desk. After setting it up she pulls the pane upright and turns it on. Ariadne swears the last time she saw something like this it was in an Iron Man movie.

"Arthur, you are running Point correct?" Zara asks with her back turned to him, still tapping on the glass.

"Yes." He answers.

"In any of your research, did our Mark show that he has had any subconscious training?" Zara asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Not yet." Arthur asked, the question putting him on edge.

"Well my late father wouldn't be one of the best at what he did if you could find it." Zara answers cryptically. She turns revealing the screen with a picture of her father and the Mark on the screen.

"Shit." Eams cursed under his breath.

"Exactly." Zara says giving a nod to Eams with a smirk.

"Your father is Wilson Hunters." Eams said as if it was an epiphany.

"Was...he died two months ago from a stroke." Zara corrected, her eyes going to Yusuf.

"He always made it a point that when he trained a client that the training would be nearly impossible to trace, therefore, anyone who tried to do an extraction would get a nasty surprise." Zara explained.

"We're bloody screwed..." Eams announced.

"Ye of little faith." Zara replied calmly with a mischievous grin.

"Can you beat your father's training of the subconscious security?" Cobb asked.

"Yes and no. My father trained my own subconscious, so far I have invited 18 different teams to do an extraction on myself, none of them have come close. However- the same way an Architect can create secret passageways that cut through a maze, many Trainers will install a fail safe in the mind of the client, in the case that extraction be deemed necessary for either the Mark's security or the trainer's. Only the trainer and the client know the fail safe- think of it like a secret password that gets you into the back room. It is one of the greatest challenges in the business to crack the subconscious of a client of my fathers. But if I'm not mistaken- you guys have done this before- both Inception and cracking my father's security- case in point- Robert Fischer Jr..." She says as she moves a picture of Robert onto the screen. Arthur let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding. No wonder it didn't show in his research. Cobb and Arthur share a knowing glance.

"Congratulations by the way on that. It is only because of some serious digging that I found out you guys are responsible. But don't worry- secrecy is probably the most important aspect of this business and something I personally stake my life on. So you guys are safe." Zara promises.

"So that being said- here is what else I have..." Zara then took the next hour regaling them of all the information they hadn't gotten yet. Arthur could feel the blush creeping up the back of his neck. Zara was the real deal. No wonder she had her title, she honestly deserved it. He always considered himself one of the best Point Men in the business but she was clearly surpassing him in her skill in research and thoroughness alone.

"Where did you get your information and tech from?" Dom asked when she finished.

"The tech is from Japan, a small company that just sprang up within the last year or so. My sources are to remain my secrets, but I can swear to you that I only use the most trustworthy and vetted of channels for information." She answered as she began to pack up her screen. Cobb couldn't help but be perfectly pleased with her answer.

"So...which workspace is mine?" Zara asked as she clasped her hands together and looked at the surroundings.

"You can have the one your screen is on." Cobb offered.

"Oh, yeah that will work. Ok, just so you all know, I have some odd quirks when I work- I rarely leave for lunch but I tend to snack all day long and since my desk is out in the open like everyone else's I will keep my head-phones in when I listen to music and if I loose myself and start singing and dancing, please for the love of all that is holy ignore me or tell me to knock it off, I won't get offended. Also, does this place have anything that has resemblance of a kitchen?" Zara asked.

"Yes, it's over here." Cobb said as he got up and showed it to her.

"Excellent because I love to cook and often do, so I hope that isn't too distracting but all of you are more then welcome to eat whatever I cook, a former Mark was a chef and I went undercover as a sous chef and it has never left me." Zara said as she began to go through the cupboards and taking a mental note to get what she needed.

"Perfectly understandable. My condolences by the way." Cobb offered.

"Thank you. Oh, my car should be here any minute..." Zara said as she walked toward the front of the office space and went outside.

"Eams, I will say it again- I am impressed, she deserves her title." Arthur offered in praise, his tone completely genuine.

"Thank you Arthur, but even I didn't know who she was until I met her at the airport. Her mother never said she was sending her daughter, let alone that she even had a daughter."

"Christine is her mother?" Arthur asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"You've never met Christine have you. If you had, it wouldn't come as a surprise. Zara is practically a clone of her mother, except for her eye color. But I had no idea that bloody Wilson of all people was her father. That makes Zara practically Dream Share royalty." Eams said, running his hands over his face. Either they were saved or were in a world of trouble.

Zara came back in and said something to Yusuf before she left again.

"Where did she go?" Eams asked.

"Shopping, she's hungry and wants to make us brownies." Yusuf answered with a chuckle.

"Woo!" Ariadne blurted before she ducked her head back down and went back to work. Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"Arthur- women can easily live without men, but women can never live without chocolate, as Point Man I thought you would know this darling." Eams teased. Arthur turned his attention to the Forger and narrowed his gaze before going back to work himself, eying Zara's equipment with a hint of jealousy.


	2. Chapter 2

An hour and a half later Zara comes in with both arms full of shopping bags, barely able to see over the top of them. The team helped her unload her car and placed the bags all over the small kitchenette. Thank goodness it was a full size fridge because she loaded it up. She went to work making the most delicious brownies they had ever sunk their teeth into.

"Darling you have missed your calling." Eams said before drinking his glass of milk.

"Not really, but thank you for the compliment nonetheless." Zara replied as she settled into her work. Zara spent the better part of the afternoon on her phone making various calls in more languages then Eams thought anyone should know for being as young as she looked.

"Arthur! Think fast." Zara suddenly said as she tossed him a silver flash drive.

"What is it?" Arthur asked as he eyed it carefully.

"My particulars. As Point I know it will soothe your nerves to have them." She answers as she got up and got a can of Coke.

He plugged it into his laptop and shut it down everything he was working on and disconnected from the internet.

"What the hell did you give me?" He asked incredulously.

"Oh, sorry, precautionary software, you need the password." She said as she leaned over and typed it in faster then Arthur could keep track of.

"Have fun." Zara said as she walked off and went back to work. Ariadne watched as Arthur went over the information, his eyebrow quirking every so often. Ariadne had watched her fiance with keen interest ever since the Fischer job to know when he was presented with surprising information. She glanced over at Eams who was also watching Arthur intently. She smirked and went back to her maze.

Three hours later Arthur unplugged the device and walked over to Zara's desk, placing it next to her.

"Thank you." He said softly.

"You're welcome. I hoped it assuaged your fears..." Zara said as she flipped through paperwork with a furrowed brow, but her tone was soft and soothing despite her facial expression.

"How much of it is true?" Arthur asked. Zara looked up from her paperwork and eyed him as if he was crazy.

"All of it, if you still doubt me, I will give you my mother's phone number so you can call her yourself." Zara quipped, irritated at his suspicion.

"Fair enough." Arthur replied as he shrugged and walked to Cobb's desk and they left to talk alone. Zara rolled her eyes and shook her head as she grumbled something and Ariadne had to try very hard to stifle a snicker. Arthur had his moments that seemed to drive everyone crazy, but god help her, she loved that man to death.

"Zara?" Cobb asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Yes sir?" She replied respectfully.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" Cobb asked.

Zara bolted from her chair, grabbed her tablet and went to the other side of the work area where Arthur and Cobb were standing.

"Is it true?" Cobb asked.

"Is what true?" Zara asked back, not quite sure if she knew what they were getting at.

"The cloning." Arthur clarified.

"Absolutely. Would you like a demonstration?" Zara asked, challenging them. Cobb gestured toward the lounge chairs and Zara nodded in agreement before calling something out in Punjabi to Yusuf who nodded and filled a syringe and gave her an injection.

"What was that?" Cobb asked, alarmed.

"Pain killer, every time I do this I get the worst headache after. Nothing too serious." Zara replied with a shrug and a dismissive hand gesture as she sat down and put the PASIV IV into her wrist and got comfortable.

In the dream they meet on just a plain white room, Zara stands there, staring at them expectantly.

"Now I'm sure both of you are aware that you can bring projections of people you know into dreams. And if you have met the subconscious projection of yourself it can be unnerving to say the least. What I'm about to show you is something I can not begin to explain, let alone teach someone else. I have only been able to do this for 2 and a half months. The closest thing I have come up with to describe it is if a schizophrenic was given the opportunity to give each personality a body. Now I am not schizophrenic, I still control every 'copy' or 'clone' of me as if it's just simply me. The most I have cloned myself is sixteen times and I woke up with the worst migraine of my life that lasted 22 days and I had to be hospitalized, I will not be doing that again, 4 seems to be my comfortable limit with only a headache being my only negative side effect. So, here goes nothing." Zara said as in a blink of an eye there were suddenly two of her standing before them. They walked up to Cobb and Arthur with identical smirks before they morphed into replicas of Arthur and Cobb themselves. Cobb and Arthur take a half a step back in shock.

"Now what you don't know is that before the whole 'Alpha' nonsense, I was considered an amazing Forger." 'Arthur' said in Arthur's voice.

"Yeah...we should probably bump it up a notch don't you think?" 'Cobb' said in to 'Arthur' in such a convincing way that it made the real Arthur and Cobb's blood freeze. Before suddenly 'Eams' and 'Ariadne' step out from behind them. 'Ariadne' winked at the real Arthur causing him to drop his jaw slightly.

"What the fuck is this?!" Ariadne demanded as she came into the dream to see what she hoped was a projection of herself wink at her fiance.

"Oh I'm just showing the disbelievers the proof they need to believe that nothing is impossible." 'Ariadne' answered.

"This is bloody brilliant! How are you doing it love?" Eams asks as he took a closer at the other 'Eams'.

"Truth be told darling, it's rather hard to explain. But what do you think? Although I will have to see you with your shirt off to get your tattoos correct." 'Eams' replied with a salacious wink and smirk.

"You only need to ask my lady." Eams cooed. He wasn't put off by the experience at all, in fact he found it completely fascinating. No one had bothered to ever forge him before and he was thoroughly enjoying the experience.

"It took the real Eams weeks of observation to copy Browning, you only just met us this morning. I mean how is that even...?" Ariadne tried to ask, looking to what she hoped would be the real Arthur for help. In another blink there were simply four Zara's standing there and the team stood in awe.

"Seriously, how are you doing this?" Eams asks as he looks from one clone to the other. They all simply smile mischievously back at him.

"So...are you projecting copies of yourself?" Ariadne asked.

"No, I'm actually cloning myself Ariadne" They said in unison.

"However we do operate independently." The first said as she looked at the other 'Zaras' and they all nodded at different speeds. Then the third 'Zara' lifted her hand and snapped her fingers, causing each 'Zara' to be in a different outfit to differentiate between them.

"Better?" The second 'Zara' asked.

"A little." Ariadne replied, still feeling uneasy. The Zara's seem to smirk and shake their heads a little before shrugging and walking into each other so that there is only one Zara.

"Time to wake up." Zara said before they all found themselves back in the work shop. Zara leaned forward and was pleasantly surprised to find she didn't have a headache.

"Yusuf, you are more brilliant then you get credit for. Not even a sore muscle, thank you, thank you, thank you." Zara praised as she got up and gave him another hug.

"How the bloody hell did you do that?" Eams asks. Zara simply shrugs and tries to explain it again. Zara and Eams go off and talk for a few hours while Ariadne tries to get over the fact that people like Zara exist. It unnerved her to an extreme degree. Ever since the first Inception her moral compass hasn't always pointed true north but she assumed she was better then most in the business. Hell, she was acclaimed to be practically a prodigy in the Dream Share Architecture Business. But god damn. This chick made her nervous.

A cackle of laughter peeled through the workshop causing everyone to look at Eams and Zara who were sitting on his desk. Eams was laughing a deep belly laugh, while Zara seemed to be crying and shaking from her own laughter before she lost her balance and fell off the desk which caused her to laugh and cry harder. Arthur and Ariadne shared a skeptical glance before watching the two of them try and pull their acts together.

"Shit, I think my stitches came apart..." Zara said breathlessly, clutching her side. Eams stopped laughing immediately and dropped his jaw.

"Yusuf!" Eams called.

"I'm fine! Really I'm..." Zara tried to say as she tried to stand up straight to see a small blood stain on her blouse.

"Yeah, ok, maybe I need a band-aid." Zara said as she slumped her shoulders in defeat but sounded alarmingly nonchalant about it. When Yusuf approaches she lifts her shirt slightly so Yusuf can see it. The entire left side of her abdomen is badly bruised and there is large bandage dressing that is starting to leak, once the bandage is pulled away, there is a gash that is stitched, looked like a fairly recent injury too.

"Jesus Christ! What the hell happened?" Eams asks as he stares at the wound.

"Oh it looks worse then it feels. Besides Yusuf's painkiller is doing wonders." Zara says dismissively. As if it's only a scrape on the knee. Ariadne, Arthur and Cobb all share a worried glance.

"Oh my god, she's insane." Ariadne whispers to Arthur who simply clenches his jaw and looks at Cobb.

They silently decide to keep their new team member at a distance.

"Seriously how did you get this...?" Eams asks as Zara sits in a chair and slouches so Yusuf can at least try to restitch the blasted thing.

"Not all jobs end well." She says, almost a whisper as she watches Yusuf attend to her.

Yusuf says something in Punjabi and she bites back an answer, the painkiller is waring off.

"But at least I killed the bastards." She adds as she clenches her jaw but still allows a half smirk. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, willing the pain away.

"Done, you're lucky, who ever did this the first time knew what they were doing." Yusuf said as he applied a fresh bandage and gave her another injection.

"I will make sure to tell Xander that. He is if anything, versatile." Zara replied as she got up and tucked her blouse back in.

"You've been working with that daft prick?" Eams asks, appalled that someone like Zara would work with such a lowlife.

"He may be a daft prick but he's a decent extractor, he just...makes bad decisions." Zara conceded.

"Damn right he does, he puts more people in harms way then anyone else in the business."

"No he doesn't, Carlos does though." Zara admitted as she sat down at her desk and began to pack her things up to go home for the night. Eams follows suit. He had called Christine while Zara was gone and expressed his concerns that 1- She was her daughter, 2- that Zara was working so soon after her father's death. Christine assured him that her daughter was up to the task but asked him to keep an eye on her daughter and contact her if something happens. Usually Eams detested anything that resembled babysitting duty but he was going to make an exception this time.

"Do you have a place to stay darling?" Eams asked as they left the workplace together.

"Yes, I took care of that last night. My mother probably told you to keep an eye on me didn't she?" Zara asked, not even bothering to look at him since she knew the answer.

"So where are you staying? Do you have an apartment here or are you staying at a hotel...?" He asked, dodging her question.

"I'm staying at one of those hotels that act like apartments." She vaguely answered.

"Me too. Which one?" Eams asked, just to be nosy.

She looked at him and cocked an eyebrow.

"Goodnight Mr. Eams. Thank you for everything today. I'll see you in the morning." Zara said as she walked away toward her car and drove away. He shook his head and decided to go to his temporary abode, which was ironically a hotel that had suites that were more apartment like then actual hotel rooms. This job was going to take the better part of two months, he couldn't stand a hotel for that long. At four in the morning he heard a god awful noise of crazy rock music from next door that nearly shook his walls but he was too tired to do more then just yell at whoever it was. He doubted they heard him. About an hour later there was silence and he proceeded to fall back asleep.

At 5am Zara left and went to work. The last thing she needed was her neighbor to yell at her to turn her music down. She went to the warehouse and made breakfast and got a head start on her research before Arthur and Ariadne showed up at 7 while Cobb came at 8.

"What time does Mr. Eams come in?" Zara asked at 9:30.

"Whenever he feels like it." Ariadne replied with a snort. And speak of the devil, that's when Eams decided to show up.

"Good morning sunshine." Zara welcomed with just a hint of sarcasm as she decided to at least me nice and get him a cup of coffee since he looked like hell.

"It's black." She warned as she handed him the cup when he sat down.

"Perfect darling, thank you." He said gratefully as he took a sip of the heavenly liquid.

"So...what happened to you?" She asked as she looked him over again.

"Oh the worst, my new neighbor decided to blare the most god awful racket at 4 am before finally turning it off an hour later. I swear they were bringing down the house with it." Zara seemed confused at the news.

"Well did you do anything?" She asked carefully.

"Yeah, I yelled at them to turn off the bloody racket..." Eams replied as he drank more of his coffee.

"Huh...well I hope they knock it off, we need you here to work." She said, her tone taking on a colder tone then she intended as she walked over to her own desk and dug into her work, wondering if it was all just a coincidence.

At the end of the day she goes to her new home and waits to see if her suspicions are right. But she gets too tired to stay up and test out a hunch. So she decides to run a test- she will play the same song for half an hour the next morning and if he says something to that effect, she will have her answer.

She does her test and to her surprise Eams comes in the next morning at 8 looking very well rested.

"Did your neighbor knock it off with the loud music?" Zara asks, handing him another cup of coffee, seems to be turning into some kind of twisted ritual for her that she can't explain.

"Don't know, don't care. Yusef gave me one hell of a sleeping pill. Best sleep I've had in ages love." Eams replied with bright smile.

"Oh. Well you do look better today then you did yesterday so...I'm happy for that." Zara replies as she turns and goes back to her desk with a deep wrinkle of concentration.

She didn't even try anything the next day after that and she eventually decided she didn't care.


	3. Chapter 3

A week later, Zara feels like she is working herself into her grave. She needs a reprieve. Thankfully she gets a call from Caleb, a Point Man who happened to be in New York.

"Hello?" Zara asks as she picks up her phone. She has the biggest smile on her face when she listens to Caleb on the other line.

"So you're in town?...Well I'm on a job at the moment...yeah that sounds wonderful...see you at 7, bye Handsome." Zara replies with a giggle.

"Big date tonight love?" Eams asks after overhearing her conversation.

"Just the biggest date ever!" She sarcastically replies, but Eams can detect a real smile from a fake one and her smile was as real as they come. At 5 she packs up early and heads out. Eams leaves only a moment later and tails her. His instincts usually didn't steer him wrong and right now they were screaming at him to follow her for reasons he wasn't comfortable saying. She goes to a club and meets a man who is far too good looking for Eams' taste. He sees the pair of them talk and laugh and catch up as if old friends. He keeps his distance but keeps an eye on her.

"You have tail..." Caleb tells Zara discretely as he takes a sip of his beer.

"Really? Does he look like this?" Zara says as she pulls out her phone and shows Caleb a picture of Eams she had snapped when he wasn't looking.

"Yes. He's a hulk of a man isn't he...?" Caleb says as he looks at the picture closer.

"He certainly has the potential for it. If only he didn't wear such cheap, horrid suits and shirts. If he had a decent, well tailored suit, no woman could resist him. He has this voice that just...nearly turns me into jello. It's so deep and rich and just the right amount of rasp to be beyond sexy AND he's British... Thank god he's appears to be oblivious." Zara elaborates. Caleb looks her over with a knowing eye.

"Someone has crush..." Caleb teases in a sing-song tone.

"Doesn't matter, besides I like to think I play a little hard to get. Besides he works with Cobb and we all know how anyone who has had that pleasure feels about having 'entanglements' in this business. Hell, take my own parents as an example. But, it's a job. A very...long and intense job, even I'm having a hard time with it. It's testing my metal in more ways then one." Zara replies, changing the subject.

"Oh? The great Zara Hunters stumped? Well paint me blue and call me Babe." Caleb teases.

"Isn't that Andrew's job?" Zara teases back.

"Yes, on occasion it is...especially when he's being naughty...or when I am rather..." Caleb says suggestively while wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oh dear god! Stop! Shut up! Ew! My virgin ears." Zara says quickly as she covers her ears and squirms.

"Virgin?! You? Ha! That's rich Zara." Caleb replies with a roar of laughter.

"Look, I'm cool with you and Andrew being together and being the happiest couple on earth, coughing up cotton candy and farting rainbows while riding unicorns, but please, just let me be happy in my ignorance. I don't need those kinds of pictures floating around in my head."

"You should see the videos..." Zara squeals and pretends to have convulsions. Caleb tries to say something else before Zara tries to stop him.

"I said stop, I'm serious." Zara warns as she puts her hand up and places it over his mouth to stop him from speaking despite her laughter. He mumbles something and she pulls her hand away.

"You're boyfriend is getting jealous." Caleb says as he leans over to whisper in her ear, kissing her on the cheek as he pulled away. Zara blushes fiercely and feels the temperature rise.

"You know you shouldn't start something you can't finish. And besides you don't 'swing my way' remember?" Zara reminds him, her blush deepening by the second.

"Oh I don't know, I think for you I could make an exception..." He purred leaning closer to her but still stealing glances at Eams who was just about to loose it.

"But what about sweet, sweet Andrew? Can you imagine the heartbreak in his big brown eyes when he finds out you had a go with a woman? Let alone me?" Zara replied as she leaned toward him in return, a triumphant grin on her lips.

"I don't think one peck on the lips will hurt anything, besides your boyfriend looks like he's about to pummel me, let's make it worth the while." Andrew whispers before leaning forward and kissing Zara chastely but the way they were angled it looked much more passionate to Eams, whose blood was already set to boil.

"Damn you Caleb..." Zara cursed when Caleb pulled away. Caleb laughed again.

"Andrew is one lucky bastard, where is he by the way?" Zara asked as she finished of her drink.

"En route from London. He will be here tomorrow." Caleb answered as he finished off his beer and contemplated on ordering another.

"Cool, I would love to see him again. Hey, I have an idea. Dance with me." Zara says, getting out of her chair and pulling him onto the dance floor.

"Eh, why not...?" Caleb says as he allows her to pull him to the middle of the dance floor. Zara was an incredible dancer and Caleb was equally so. Eams watched with guarded jealousy as the pair moved on the dance floor and seemed to enjoy themselves. A song came on and Zara let out a whoop along with all the other girls on the dance floor. Eams watched as the man she was with groaned and escaped being crushed by the hoard of girls crowding the dance floor. Eams watched in awe as Zara and every other girl seemed to let out their inner vixen.

"Mr. Eams right?" Caleb said as he seemed to appear at Eams' side out of nowhere.

"Beg your pardon?" Eams asks.

"Your name- Mr. Eams. You work with Zara?" Caleb says, hoping that will explain things to him. When Eams hesitates to answer for just a second, Caleb chuckles and shakes his head.

"I'm Caleb, I've worked with Zara too. So are you tailing her to make sure she stays out of trouble or are you that obsessive and protective? Because you are playing the jealous boyfriend too well 'mate'."

"I'm just looking out for her. Besides she seems to be perfectly happy having you at that post." Eams explained, while still trying to keep his eyes trained on Zara who was currently being hit on by a pair of douche bags. Eams narrowed his gaze as he started to stand up to intervene. But Caleb was already at her side, pulling her away. One of the guys said something and Zara slipped away from Caleb and proceeded to beat the living daylights out of the guy faster and harder then Eams had expected. Both Caleb and Eams came and pulled her off the poor bastard and haul her out of there before the cops could show up.

"That's it, two drink limit from now on. Your temper flairs too bad after that." Caleb scolded Zara as they dragged her to her car and put her in the passenger seat.

"He deserved to have his ass handed to him." Zara seethed, her eyes nearly glowing with rage.

"But not by you. For heaven's sake Zara, you're on a job which means keeping a low profile, how is getting into a fight in a very public place doing that? You know better." Caleb replied sternly but his tone was still soft, he was trying to reason with her. Zara folded her arms over her chest and glared at him instead of arguing with him.

"Do you want me or Mr. Eams here to take you home? Because you're not driving, not like this." Caleb asked as he stood up and held her gaze. She grumbled something as she snorted defeat.

"Fine, have it your way. I'll see you tomorrow sweetheart." Caleb said to Zara as he tossed Eams' her car keys.

"Be safe." Caleb called as he walked away from them. Zara wouldn't look at Eams as she directed him to her place. Eams was shocked that her apartment was right next to his, how did he not discover this before? Then the snippets of conversation they had those couple of mornings seem to click into place.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to see me like that." Zara apologized, feeling completely embarrassed by her lapse of self control.

"Well if it counts for anything, the prick had it coming. And you have a brilliant left hook if I may say so." Eams replied with a sly grin. Zara chuckled at that.

"Thanks...How are you going to get home? Should I call a taxi or...?" Zara said as she took off her seat belt but made no move to get out.

"I am home love. I'm there." Eams replied as he pointed to his place.

"Seems you're my neighbor that blasted that awful racket." Eams said with a wink as he got out.

"But what about your car?" Zara asked as she got out and walked toward their apartments.

"We can get it later. Besides tomorrow is our one day off. Let's not worry about it darling." Eams said. Zara simply chuckled again.

"I hate it when Caleb is right..." Zara says as she leans her head back and rolls her head around, cracking her neck in the process.

"Speaking of him...why didn't your boyfriend take you home?" Eams questioned. Zara burst out in laughter and clamps her hand over her mouth to keep it from getting out of hand.

"Caleb isn't my boyfriend. Mostly because he already has one of his own." Zara replied. Eams looked at her baffled before it set in.

"Then what was all the bloody necking at the club?" Eams demanded.

"That wasn't necking, not even close to what I think necking is anyway. Caleb saw you tailing me, he watched you watch me and was simply goading you to see how you would react." Zara explained while stealing a glance his way. She watched for a moment as the wheels started to turn in his head. He hesitated again and that was answer enough for Zara.

"Well, goodnight Eams. I promise not to blare my music at 4 am tomorrow...I'll wait till 5." Zara teased as she got her key out and opened her door to go inside.

"Hold on, aren't you going to invite me in for tea or coffee or something?" Eams asked.

"I never invite someone in when I don't know their first name. Better luck next time iMr./i Eams. Goodnight." Zara said as she opened her door and swiftly closed it behind her. She barely had her shoes off when Eams knocked at her door. She opened it at looked at him expectantly.

"Nickolas, my first name is Nickolas, Nick for short. Satisfied?" He asked, with his arms crossed over his chest.

"What's your blood type?" Zara asked as she leaned on the door frame. Eams' eyebrows knitted together as he stared at her, wondering if she was serious.

"A positive." He answered slowly, surprised he even knew that.

"Awesome, me too. Now, before you take a step over this threshold, you need to know that you will ionly/i be having something to drink and i nothing/i more. Am I understood?" Zara asked, her tone taking on a deadly seriousness.

"Absolutely." Eams answered as Zara stepped back to let him in.

"So, coffee, tea, beer, wine, scotch whiskey...?"Zara offered as she walked to the kitchen to fetch whatever his answer would be. He followed her and grabbed the bottle of scotch-whiskey from the counter and gave a nod of approval. She got two glasses and they went to her little living room, where they drink in relative silence for a while. Zara still wouldn't look at him, she seemed to be lost in her own ocean of thoughts. Nick however took this opportunity to look her over carefully. She looked young despite the worry lines on her face.

"How old are you?" Nick asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. Zara looked up at him and gave him half a smile.

"Technically speaking, twenty-four, even though I may act like I'm six or sixteen, but most days I feel twice my age, that's what this business does to you isn't it? Age becomes nothing but a number, it's all about a state of mind. What about you?"

"Oh I agree love, although like you put it, 'technically speaking' I'm thirty two." He answered, even though he was days away from being thirty three and feeling much older then that.

"If all of the time you've spent in dreams were real life, how old would you be?" Zara asked.

"Oh I have no idea darling, probably twice what I am now." Nick replied as he tried not to think about it too much.

"I would be 87 and a half..." Zara said as she refilled her glass. Nick looked at her incredulously.

"My father insisted I go to college, I didn't think I had the time because I just wanted to get into the business, so he practically kidnapped a few professors and put them into a dream state so they could teach me one on one. I got two masters and a bachelor degree in two months of real time. In dream years I spent just shy of 5 years. It was...intense, like everything else in my life... Can I ask you something profoundly personal?" Zara asks as she leans forward and swishes the scotch in her glass.

"Sure." Nick replies, knowing she most likely needed someone to simply dump all the things she's been carrying around emotionally for...however long she's been carrying it.

"When you were growing up...did you have a happy family life?" Zara asked, trying very hard to choose her words carefully.

"I like to think so...to a degree anyway. My father wasn't around, my mother worked hard but she did what she could, that kind of thing...how was your family life growing up?" Nick asked.

"Anything but normal...you already know my mother. She is a professional head shrink, teacher, mentor, consultant... She is always about the human element. Then you have my father..." Zara began to say before she clenched her jaw and forced her tears back.

"My father loved his job more then he loved his family...he was brilliant and cunning, he was all about numbers and results. He will probably always be remembered for being one of the best in his field. But what no one will care to know, is that he was a horrible father. He may have provided extremely well for his family and taught me how to not only survive in this business but how to be successful and thrive. But he was controlling, paranoid, cold and calculating to an extreme degree. He was tyrannical, ruthless, vicious and abusive in the most damaging of ways. It was like living with a great white shark. He was powerful and deadly and you had no choice but to respect him. He demanded perfection...and I learned at too young an age how to simply survive him, so, to his face I tried to be perfect. I mean, what can I say? Human nature demands that a child will seek some kind of approval from a parent, even if the child knows it's impossible, they will still try...I mean the extreme lengths I went to were ridiculous. I learned several languages so I could converse with the majority of his clients easily, making them comfortable as I served as his translator for a while before striking out on my own. I was smart, witty, charming, helped propel his reputation as being one of the best at what he did. I helped him accumulate his power which in turn helped me accumulate my own. As repayment he would give me anything I asked for, that he approved of anyway. But he could never give me the one thing I needed, three guesses as to what that was..." Zara started to explain as a few tears began to run down her face before she quickly wiped them away while she did her best to put on a brave smile that never met her eyes. It felt good to get this off her chest. But it sucked spilling her guts out to someone whom she would only categorize as an acquaintance, someone who she still didn't know if she could trust.

"How bad was the abuse?" Nick asked, the words leaving his chest and throat constricted. He knew of Wilson Hunters, the man was piece of work to put it lightly and Eams didn't doubt he probably ruled his household with an iron fist.

"He never physically harmed me. Emotionally and mentally he beat me to a pulp all the time. He said it was to 'toughen me up' and 'give me thick skin' which is bullshit. My mother is shrink for god's sake! She knew damn well what he was doing and she didn't stop him, she didn't even try. Probably because he did the same thing to her and she just accepted it. She 'rebelled' against him though by introducing me to the underside and illegitimacy of this business. That's why I have openly invited extractors to come and see if they can break my father's trained security. I just for once want to beat him at his own game, even if the bastard is dead. That's why I'm pouring myself into this job as much as I am. I don't care about the money or 'my share' in this job. I just want it to be a success. That's all I really care about." Zara said as she finished her scotch in one big gulp. Nick simply nodded in understanding.

"Thank you..." Zara said softly, finally looking up at him. The raw emotion in her eyes captivated him.

"For listening to years of pent up emotional angst. You're a fantastic listener." Zara added, trying to lift the heavy mood. Nick simply stood up and brought her to her feet before giving her the biggest hug she ever could remember receiving. She stiffened at first but soon succumbed to the warmth and comfort of the embrace and hugged back, burying her face into his shoulder.

"You need a different cologne..." Zara said into his shoulder. He pulled away slightly to look at her and make sure he heard her correctly.

"Beg your pardon love?"

"You're cologne, it's burning my nose, it's too strong and spicy." She explained as she wrinkled and wiggled her nose to stave off a sneeze. Nick just laughed at her and let her go as he bent over to finish his cup of scotch-whiskey.

"Maybe that's what we should do tomorrow..." Zara offered.

"Don't see why not." Nick replied with a shrug as she walked him to the door.

"Excellent. I'll come over in the morning with breakfast. Goodnight." She said as she opened the door for him to leave.

"Goodnight love." Nick said as he kissed her cheek and walked passed her to leave. Zara blushed furiously.

"Hey don't start that now. It's not cool to start something you can't finish, second we work together and I have a firm 'no screwing workmates' policy while on the job because things can get weird and I don't do weird. Third- we've been drinking and we are slightly inebriated at the moment and I would hate for you to do something you will only regret or brush off as never happening later." Zara says quickly, before her eyes widen at the realization of what she just said since she took a simple peck on the cheek to mean...a lot more then he probably intended. She clamps a hand over her mouth to keep from saying anything else as she watches Nick's expression go from pleasantly surprised to completely pleased.

"The first thing you need to know about me love, is that I am, if anything, a professional. Secondly, don't sell yourself so short. Because anything done in your company would never be regretted, let alone forgotten. And third- I never start anything that I don't intend for both of us to finish. Get some sleep darling, I'll see you in the morning, yeah?" Nick said with a wink as he walked away, leaving Zara standing there with her jaw open like a fish out of water.

"God damn, I'm in trouble." Zara says to herself as she shuts her door and contemplates how she may have just made a complete fool out of herself while the devious side of her brain began to imagine Nick's lips on places other then her cheek. She began to blush even further and decided that she better lock her door and go to bed before she goes over to his place and does something she just might regret. Although she doubts she would really regret it. I mean, guys with voices, looks and bodies like his were usually fantastic in bed and she hadn't gotten laid since before her father passed...oh no, need to snuff those thoughts out of her head right now.


End file.
